The invention relates to laundry detergents and cleaners comprising silicate-containing, microdisperse hydrophilic particles and having good soil release properties and a low tendency for resoiling of the surfaces to be cleaned.
WO 99/00457 describes a facade coating which reduces the soiling tendency of facades.
In EP 252 708, it is found that the addition of colloidal silica to rinse aids reduces the drying time.
EP 368 559 describes the use of finely divided silica as an abrasive.
DE 2 809 371 describes the use of polydimethylsiloxane and colloidal silica which has an abrasive action.
The abovementioned specifications refer to the abrasive action of colloidal silica and its thickening effect in a formulation.
Surprisingly, it has now been found that the addition of microdisperse, hydrophilic silicate-containing particles to laundry detergents and cleaners facilitates soil release, increases the cleaning action and reduces the resoiling of the surfaces treated in this way.
The silicate-containing particles act as surface-coating agents which, upon application to the surfaces, displace the soiling and at the same time, as a result of the coating of the surfaces, hinder their resoiling. Repeated use of the laundry detergents and cleaners enhances the effect.
An essential feature of the silicate-containing particles is their ability to form sufficiently small particles in aqueous dispersion and/or upon application to surfaces. Microdisperse refers to the particle size of the silicate-containing particles. Particles which do not form sufficiently small particles or which do not form particles at all in solution or upon application to surfaces are unsuitable for the invention.
The invention provides laundry detergents and cleaners comprising microdisperse, hydrophilic silicate-containing particles.
The invention likewise provides for the use of microdisperse, hydrophilic silicate-containing particles as surface-coating agents for enhancing soil release and reducing the tendency for resoiling in laundry detergents and cleaners.
The silicate-containing particles preferably have a particle size of from 1 to 500 nm, particularly preferably 9 to 50 nm.
In a preferred embodiment, the surface of the silicate-containing particles is ionically charged. As a result of the electrical charge, the soil is released more readily and resoiling is hindered. Preferably, the silicate-containing particles are negatively charged.
Particularly preferred silicate-containing particles are colloidal silica sols sold by Clariant GmbH as (copyright)Klebosol and by Bayer as (copyright)Baykisol. Furthermore, the synthetic clay minerals hectorite and saponite from Laporte ((copyright)Laponite grades), Sxc3xcdchemie ((copyright)Optigel) and Clariant GmbH ((copyright)SKS-20 and (copyright)SKS-21) are also particularly suitable.
In a preferred embodiment, the silicate-containing particles are simultaneously used with hydrophobicizing agents, which enhances soil release and reduces the tendency for resoiling.
Preferred hydrophobicizing agents are silicones, silicone oils and/or fluorosilicone oils, e.g. the antifoam emulsions (copyright)SE36 and (copyright)SE39, the antifoam (copyright)S850 and the antifoam powders (copyright)ASP 8,(copyright)ASP 15, (copyright)ASP16, (copyright)ASP 20 and (copyright)ASP30 from Wacker.
Polyorganosiloxanes, such as, for example, polydimethylsiloxanes, polysiloxanes, alkyl-modified siloxanes and amino-functional siloxanes, particularly preferably (copyright)Finish CT 34 E (silicone softener emulsions from Wacker) are also preferably suitable.
Other suitable hydrophobicizing agents are soil release polymers, e.g. polymers of phthalic acid and/or of terephthalic acid or derivatives thereof, in particular oligomeric terephthalate esters, polymers of ethylene terephthalates and polyethylene glycol terephthalates and also anionic and/or nonionic derivatives thereof.
Further suitable hydrophobicizing agents are cationic surfactants consisting of quaternary mono- (C8-C16)-N-Alkyl or -alkenyl ammonium salts whose N positions are occupied by methyl, hydroxymethyl or hydroxypropyl groups. Particular preference is given to distearyidimethylammonium chloride, ditallowdimethylammonium chloride, diethanolamine diesterquat, triethanolamine diesterquat and alkylhydroxyethyidimethylammonium chloride.
Other suitable hydrophobicizing agents are fluorine compounds, e.g. those from 3M.
The laundry detergents and cleaners preferably comprise 0.01 to 10% by weight, particularly preferably 0.1 to 5% by weight, of silicate-containing particles.
Preference is also given to concentrates which comprise up to 80% by weight of silicate-containing particles.
In the laundry detergents and cleaners, the weight ratio of water to silicate-containing particles is between 10 000:1 and 1:4.
The weight ratio of silicate-containing particles to hydrophobicizing agents is preferably between 100:1 and 1:100.
Preference is given to laundry detergents and cleaners which comprise to 10% by weight of silicate-containing particles, to 10% by weight of hydrophobicizing agent and up to 99.5% by weight of other laundry detergent/cleaner ingredients.
Also preferred are laundry detergents and cleaners which comprise to 10% by weight of silicate-containing particles, 0.5 to 60% by weight of interface-active substances and up to 99.5% by weight of other laundry detergent/cleaner ingredients.
Also preferred are laundry detergents and cleaners which comprise to 10% by weight of silicate-containing particles, to 10% by weight of hydrophobicizing agent, 0.5 to 60% by weight of interface-active substances and up to 99.5% by weight of other laundry detergent/cleaner ingredients.
The interface-active substances may be anionic, cationic, nonionic and/or zwitterionic surfactants.
Particularly preferred nonionic surfactants are alkyl alkoxylates, gluconamides and alkyl polyglycosides.
Of the alkyl alkoxylates, preference is given to using ethoxylated alcohols, preferably primary alcohols having, preferably, 8 to 22 carbon atoms and, preferably, 1 to 80 EO units per mole of alcohol, where the alcohol radical is linear or, preferably, methyl-branched in the 2-position, or contains linear and methyl-branched radicals in a mixture, as is usually the case in oxo alcohol radicals. Preferred ethoxylated alcohols include, for example, C11-alcohols having 3, 5, 7, 8 and 11 EO units, (C12-C15)-alcohols having 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 or 13 EO units, (C14-C15)-alcohols having 4, 7 or 8 EO units, (C16-C18)-alcohols having 8, 11, 15, 20, 25, 50 or 80 EO units and mixtures thereof. The degrees of ethoxylation given are statistical average values which may be an integer or a fractional number for a specific product. In addition to these, it is also possible to use fatty alcohol-EO/PO adducts, such as, for example, the (copyright)Genapol grades 3970, 2909 and 2822 from Clariant GmbH.
Further suitable surfactants are polyhydroxy fatty acid amides of the formula R2xe2x80x94COxe2x80x94N(R3)xe2x80x94Z, in which R2CO is an aliphatic acyl radical having 6 to 22 carbon atoms, R3 is hydrogen, an alkyl or hydroxyalkyl radical having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and Z is a linear or branched polyhydroxyalkyl radical having 3 to 10 carbon atoms and 3 to 10 hydroxyl groups. Preferably, alkyl glycosides of the formula RO(G)x can be used, in which R is a primary straight-chain or methyl-branched, in particular methyl-branched in the 2-position, aliphatic radical having 8 to 22, preferably 12 to 18, carbon atoms, and G is a glycose unit having 5 or 6 carbon atoms, preferably glucose. The degree of oligomerization x, which indicates the distribution of monoglycosides and oligoglycosides, is any desired number between 1 and 10; preferably 1.2 to 1.4.
Preference is also given to alkoxylated, preferably ethoxylated or ethoxylated and propoxylated, fatty acid alkyl esters, preferably having 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain, in particular fatty acid methyl esters as are described, for example, in Japanese patent application JP 58/217598, or preferably those prepared in accordance with the process described in international patent application WO A 90/13533.
Suitable anionic surfactants of the sulfonate type are preferably the known (C9-C13)-alkylbenzenesulfonates, alpha-olefinsulfonates and alkanesulfonates. Also suitable are esters of sulfo fatty acids or the disalts of alpha-sulfo fatty acids. Further suitable anionic surfactants are sulfated fatty acid glycerol esters, which are mono-, di- and triesters and mixtures thereof, as are obtained during the preparation by esterification by 1 mol of monoglycerol with 1 to 3 mol of fatty acid or in the transesterification of triglycerides with 0.3 to 2 mol of glycerol. Suitable alkyl sulfates are, in particular, the sulfuric monoesters of (C12-C18)-fatty alcohols, such as lauryl alcohol, myristyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol or stearyl alcohol, and the fatty alcohol mixtures obtained from coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil which may additionally comprise fractions of unsaturated alcohols, e.g. oleyl alcohol.
Suitable further anionic surfactants are, in particular, soaps. Saturated fatty soaps, such as the salts of lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, hydrogenated erucic acid and behenic acid, and, in particular, soap mixtures derived from natural fatty acids, e.g. coconut, palm kernel or tallow fatty acids, are suitable. The anionic surfactants can be in the form of their sodium, potassium or ammonium salts, and in the form of soluble salts of organic bases, such as mono-, di- or triethanolamine. The anionic surfactants are preferably in the form of their sodium or potassium salts, in particular in the form of the sodium salts.
Further laundry detergent/cleaner ingredients are builders, cobuilders, alkali suppliers, antifoams, dispersants, pH regulators, complexing agents, bleaches, bleach activators and bleach catalysts and/or enzymes.
The builders are preferably crystalline alumino silicates, alkali metal carbonates, alkali metal orthophosphates, alkali metal pyrophosphates and alkali metal polyphosphates, crystalline phyllosilicates, crystalline alkali metal silicates without a layer structure and/or X-ray amorphous alkali metal silicates.
The cobuilders are preferably monomeric, oligomeric, polymeric or copolymeric carboxylic acids.
The bleach systems are preferably active chlorine carriers and/or organic or inorganic active oxygen carriers, bleach activators (e.g. TAED), bleach catalysts, enzymes for removing discolorations, perborates and/or percarbonates.
The pH regulators are preferably sodium carbonate, citric acid, sodium citrate and/or bicarbonate.
Finally, the laundry detergents and cleaners may optionally also comprise enzymes, such as, for example, proteases, amylases, lipases and cellulases.
The laundry detergents and cleaners can be used for the treatment of fiber and textile surfaces, but also for the treatment of hard surfaces made from very different materials, e.g. metals, glass, ceramics, plastics etc.
The laundry detergents are preferably heavy-duty detergents, compact heavy-duty detergents, compact color detergents, heavy-duty detergents of low bulk density, special detergents, such as, for example, laundry after-treatment compositions, laundry softeners, stain-removal salts, bleach boosters, net curtain detergents, wool detergents, modular detergents and commercial detergents.
The cleaners are generally cleaners for hard surfaces, such as, for example, facade, glass, ceramic, metal, window, floor and carpet cleaners.
The cleaners are preferably hand dishwashing detergents, machine dishwashing detergents, machine dishwashing cleaners and rinse aids.
Further preferred cleaners are automobile and paint cleaners for manual use and for automatic use in car washes.
The examples below serve to illustrate the invention without, however, limiting it. The compositions of the formulations according to the invention are given here in percent by weight.